A court has ordered the release of a 76-year-old Briton after hearing that his wife begged him to end her life during a long illness Here's what happened in the David Hunter case – and why it reopens the assisted dying debate 🔎 Analysis by cahalmilmo
by a Cypriot court to convict Mr Hunter, 76, of manslaughter some 19 months after Janice Hunter was found dead at the couple’s rented home on the Mediterranean island both ended a profoundly traumatic ordeal for the British ex-pat and at the same time reopened the debate surroundingWhen they had arrived at their retirement home in the Cypriot resort of Paphos more than a decade ago, David and Janice Hunter realised a longstanding dream to live out their remaining years under the Mediterranean...
The Briton, who along with his wife had had to sell their home and move to a rented maisonette near Paphos to meet the costs of her healthcare, then called his brother in Britain to say what had taken place and took an overdose. Medics were able to save the ex-miner’s life but his nightmare was only just beginning as he was transferred from hospital to a high-security prison in Nicosia, the Cypriot capital.
Mr Hunter would later insist that he had only acted after weeks of pleading from his 74-year-old wife, who had reached a state of extreme physical frailty and was said to be in constant pain, to end her life. The couple’s plight was made all the more profound by their isolation caused by theFor the next 19 months, he remained in prison while a trial took place to decide whether or not he was guilty of Janice’s murder.
In emotional testimony, Mr Hunter rejected the assertion of the prosecution that he had long planned Janice’s death. Addressing the judges directly, he said his wife had begged him to take her life but he had refused. He told the court: “She wasn’t just my wife, she was my best friend. I would never in a million years have harmed her.”As part of their case, defence lawyers presented the Cypriot court with case law on assisted dying from a number of jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom.
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